In Cuba, the development of urban agriculture started as a necessity to
face the crisis of food production. A strong movement exists, fundamentally through the
development of organopónicos (urban gardens) and huertos intensivos (intensive orchards).
From 1996 to 1997 the production of these methods of urban agriculture grew by 3 times.
During 1998, the production in patios and parcels was registered too.

Several basic considerations have been specified for the sustainability
of Urban Agriculture. Agro-ecological practices have been developed by using technological
alternatives that follow the trend of the rational use of resources.

The movement of organopónicos in cities and the urban perimeters has
been expanded in Cuba because there are available spaces. Currently, the methods of
cultivation in organopónicos allow high yields by using few external inputs, such as
fertilisers, pesticides and energy. These methods are compatible with organic farming.

In the First and the Second International Conferences on Urban
Agriculture in Cuba, it was evident that scientific investigation was necessary to improve
agricultural practices and systems. The problem of production in organopónicos, is that
yields per unit area, reported in different municipalities and cities were still below
potential. It has been demonstrated in several installations that the yields could be
increased. The most important problems of organopónicos to be solved are the substrate
management, the water quality and the use of low input alternatives. These problems
require the maximum attention of researchers.

The province of Cienfuegos is the capital
of Urban Agriculture in Cuba. It is possible to affirm because this province has had the
best results on the evaluation indicators considered for the special evaluation of
the Cuban Ministry of Agriculture in 1998.

The following statistics show what do not
need to be commented. See graphs 1,2,3 & 4 about some indicators of fresh vegetables
production.